Something to remember
by Taipan Kiryu
Summary: G1. Due to a malfunction in the space bridge, Starscream and Carly are sent to a dangerous and distant planet, where they will have to cooperate with each other in order to survive.
1. Chapter 1

**Something to remember**

**Written by Taipan Kiryu**

**(Dedicated to the loving memory of Chris Latta, who gave Starscream a soul. We will always remember.)**

_Author's__ notes: This story happens during the G1 season, though I changed Bumblebee to be a Camaro like in the 2007 movie. Just a little change that won't affect this fic at all. I just happen to like the Camaro better :oP And since Bumblebee won't be a main character of this story, no damage will be caused._

_OK, enough with my babble! Please proceed._

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers. They belong to Hasbro and others. All I own is the story, which was written for entertainment purposes only. No profit was or will be made, etc. etc. etc.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The sudden tranquility of the desert was interrupted by a sudden gust of wind that lifted a small cloud of dust that got lost between the rocks.

Very close to what it seemed to be some sort of road, two automobiles were hidden behind a stone formation. One of them, a red and white Lamborghini, was empty. In the other, a yellow Camaro, two teenagers were seated on the driver's seat. A very light tune of music could be heard coming from inside the Lamborghini.

"Would ya turn that off, Sideswipe? We could be heard," Bumblebee said.

"Relax, dude. Soundwave is not around, and as for the other Decepticreeks, they have worst audio sensors than my back tires," Sideswipe replied.

"Still, we are not here to have fun."

Bumblebee tried to focus his attention in a little brown lizard outside, doing his best not to invade the intimacy of the humans inside him.

Sitting together on the driver's seat, Spike and Carly were kissing each other in which seemed to be a weird mixture of heads, hands and hair. The kiss length was longer than the usual, according to Bumblebee's records, but eventually they separated, kind of shy to go on further in the presence of both Autobots.

Carly moved and sat on the other seat. Spike yawned and rested his head over the girl's lap.

"How much longer do we have to wait, Bumblebee?" he asked.

"Not much," the Camaro replied. "Optimus ordered us to keep guard until the rest of the guys arrive, and according to my radar they are already moving."

"It's so cool that for once in our lives we take the offensive. Optimus should do this more often," Sideswipe said, making some weird noises with his engines.

"Can you imagine? Once we control the Decepticon's space bridge, we'll be able to travel to Cybertron in a matter of astro seconds. How amazing…"

"Yes, and to other universes too…" Carly intervened, closing her eyes.

Spike looked at her with a smile. "We'll be the first humans to travel through a space gate despite of distances or whatever logic dictates."

Carly joined her boyfriend' s smile, daydreaming. "Human logic, at least."

Bumblebee started his engines. "Time to move. Tight your safety belts, kids."

Sideswipe took the lead. "About time, man! I was about to rust."

They drove for some miles until they reached a very high stone formation.

"This is as far as you get. Get down and hide behind those rocks" Bumblebee said.

Spike and Carly reluctantly did as they were told. Bumblebee and Sideswipe transformed to their standard modes and begun to advance; soon they disappeared from both humans' sight.

Some minutes later, an explosion shook the area and a black cloud of smoke started to rise from somewhere ahead.

"The party has started. The Autobots must be already kicking some Decepticon's ass!" Spike said with delight.

"Shame we have to wait here… What do you say if we take a closer look?"

"It would be dangerous, Carly. Better to wait here."

Carly glanced at Spike with some contempt. He was so boring and predictable sometimes. She would have loved to see some excitement and hunger for adventure in his eyes in moments like this.

A roar above their heads made them face the sky, just in time to perceive three flashes of lightning that disappeared at supersonic velocity.

"The Decepticon Seekers!" yelled Spike, covering his eyes with his right hand.

"I'm not blind. Come on, Spike! We can't miss this. Let's go!" Carly followed the direction of the smoke and the increasing sound of laser fire.

"Carly, wait!" He ran after her.

They didn't have time to run more than ten seconds. Soon they were caught up by a cargo van ambulance.

"Come on, get in!" Ratchet shouted. "It's not safe out here."

Both humans got in and the Autobot drove towards a big dune.

A couple of minutes later they had the first sights of the battlefield. Between the chaos and firing typical of an Autobot-Decepticon fight, Devastator, the giant gestalt robot formed by the Constructicons, laid on the floor, his optics dimmed. Above him was Optimus Prime, who was sharing blows with Megatron.

A couple of hundred of yards above them, Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker were flying gracefully, causing great damage to half dozen of Autobots who were defending themselves desperately from the ground.

Carly shivered, amazed by the incredible aerial skills of the Decepticons. The three Seekers seemed to be in perfect coordination. They were executing dangerous maneuvers, running over the Autobots without any problem. Indeed it was an amazing spectacle.

Ratchet arrived to a safe zone behind a dune, covered by Hoist and Cliffjumper. Carly and Spike got out of him and he transformed to his standard mode, ready to join the fight.

Carly advanced to the edge of the dune to continue watching the battle from a closer point. The Seeker trio had momentarily stopped their attack and they were flying around a perfect circle, almost touching themselves, in a weird and dangerous intimidating maneuver.

On a cliff, very close to the fallen Devastator, Megatron was pointing his fusion cannon toward the leader of the Autobots.

"How honorable from you, Prime!Trying to control our space bridge while our defenses are low," he disdainfully said.

His blast was barely dodged by Optimus Prime. "I claim this space bridge as Autobots' property, Megatron. It won't be your way to transport stolen energy to Cybertron anymore!"

"As always, you put the needs of some filthy flesh creatures above your own kind's. You disgust me to the core, Prime!"

Both Commanders tossed their weapons aside and got into a brutal hand to hand combat. Meanwhile, in the sky, the Decepticon jets started their offensive again.

"Combat formation Alpha 45-C! Skywarp, Thundercracker, to my flanks! Attack, fire at will!" Starscream ordered.

Immediately, the three Seekers got in line so close to each other that any miscalculation would knock them down in a second. But millions of years of flying together made that kind of mistakes an impossible probability, so they continued sowing terror and destruction below them.

However, the mortal beauty of their air raid was interrupted by the intrusion of a great beam of energy that forced them to split.

"Aerialbots!" Skywarp cried before teleporting to a safer position.

Starscream barely dodged a blast from Silverbolt and gained altitude with an angry roar of his afterburners, very aware of the Aerialbot's fear to heights.

"Ramjet, Dirge, Thrust! Report to the battlefield at once!" he radioed, catching up with Thundercracker and assuming a new combat formation. "Let's take those slagging Aerialbots down! Thundercracker, stay by my side!"

The battle continued for several minutes. On land, Megatron and the Constructicons were having a lot of problems to control Optimus Prime and his subordinates. And in the sky, the opportune arrival of the Aerialbots had broken the perfect coordination of the Aerial Elite. The Decepticons were outnumbered and the smell of defeat began to spread.

"Defend the space bridge, by all means!" Megatron shouted as he was attacked again by Optimus Prime.

Spike and Carly continued peeking cautiously from their relatively safe spot. Spike shivered as the chaos and destruction increased. On the other hand, Carly witnessed the scene with complete fascination. It was her first time in an Autobot-Decepticon battle, and she certainly would not forget it.

Despite of the chaos that was surrounding it, the space bridge remained intact, untouchable so much for its aggressors same as for its defenders.

But from somewhere in the sky, a deviated missile impacted a side of the enormous metallic structure, very close to the control console. Dozens of sparks erupted from the console, and something little and white was expelled from one panel and fell to the ground.

Carly glanced with curiosity at the human hand size white diamond that fell not very far away from her. She had always been fascinated with the space bridge, and she was aware that it was that diamond, unique in the universe, the one that made instant space journeys possible. Without thinking twice, she went out of her hiding place and ran towards the shinny object.

"Carly!!" Spike cried, trying to reach her.

But he was too slow. Carly ran excitedly, her body full of adrenalin. The sounds of the battle hurt her ears and she could feel the heat of the laser beams very close to her, but she didn't stop. She was too focused on that diamond that was every step closer to her.

The sun suddenly obscured and a black shadow covered her. Before all her world broke up in a thousand pieces, Carly had a very short lapse of time to see one of the Decepticon Seekers crashing into the gate of the space bridge. Then, there was only darkness.

* * *

Between her unconsciousness, Carly could hear a weak groan coming from her own throat and she felt a cold and hard surface touching her cheek. She opened her eyes.

She sat on the floor with a slow movement and she saw a high and cavernous roof above her head that was dripping a white fluorescent liquid.

The pain on her knee made her realize that she wasn't having a bad dream. She was indeed in some sort of huge cavern, very humid and cold. The ground, covered with stones of different sizes, had many puddles of the fluorescent liquid which provided enough light to half illuminate the cavern. On the roof, an army of stalactites were hanging up, some pouring the white liquid. Carly contained a chill.

She stood up, remembering and trying to organize in her mind the events that had guided her to that strange place. The one and only scientific explanation that she could give to her odd situation was that, somehow, the space bridge had activated due to the missile impact and had sent her to a place that definitively was not Cybertron.

The girl began to walk, fearful and insecure. She didn't have any clue of where to go. All her surroundings looked the same, all rock and white liquid puddles. She walked about a hundred yards, looking for an exit, when the sight of a big blue metallic hand that was jutting out of a debris of rocks made her froze. Though her surprise was no match to her fear when she realized who the owner of that hand was.

Laying face down to the ground, was the Decepticon Air Commander Starscream.

Carly stood still, trying not to make a noise; she was very aware of the danger of being close to that particular Decepticon. However, her precautions seemed unnecessary. Starscream was motionless; his face didn't have any expression and his red optics were off.

Carly remembered the big shadow over her, right after she picked up the diamond. It seemed that Starscream had shared her same fate.

The diamond. She quicky grabbed the pocket of her jacket and found the object there, cold and heavy.

A weak and raspy groan made her shiver. With horror, she saw how the Seeker's hand began to move, stretching slowly his fingers. Carly stepped back and hid after a big rock, praying he wouldn't notice her presence.

Starscream was beginning to be on line again. His optic sensors blinked some moments and then became activated definitively. With slow movements, the Decepticon managed to sit up, rubbing his head with his hands. Apparently, he had taken a very strong hit when falling. Besides that, an ugly wound made by enemy fire on his left side was still sparkling.

"Oooh… what the…" the raspy voice of the Decepticon Air Commander echoed through the cave.

He slowly stood up, looking around with a confused expression on his face. Carly watched him and stopped breathing, praying that he couldn't hear her frantic heart beats.

Starscream started to walk and laid a hand on one of the walls of the cave. He groaned in pain and fall to his knees, touching his injure.

"This is just great!" he complained, taking a look to the hole on his chassis; some circuits were burned and exposed. In the same position, he seemed to press some button on his shoulder. "Starscream to Nemesis, do you copy?"

Nothing but a strong sound of static replied.

"Starscream to Nemesis, do you copy? I request assistance, location unknown. Soundwave, you slagging fool, answer me!!" he cried giving a hard punch on the wall that shook the cavern and caused a little landslide.

After a third failed attempt of communication, the Seeker pushed the button again and got up, leaning on the wall. His wound was not very serious but it had reached some of his most sensitive circuits, so the pain was quite hard. How the hell he got in that mess, he didn't know exactly. All he could remember was to have been surprised by a sudden shot from Slingshot, and next, the void.

Starscream made a grimace. To be taken down by an Aerialbot was the worst humiliation for a Decepticon Seeker. He would have to get even with Slingshot, but before he needed to find a way to return to the Decepticon Headquarters, although he was sure that his base would be a few worlds away from that muddy cavern.

Starscream paced towards Carly and she froze. She sighed with relief when the Decepticon continued without noticing her. But suddenly, a dark silhouette next to her forehead made her turn. She found herself face to face with an enormous insect that looked like a rare mixture between a scorpion and a cricket.

Carly yelled in terror and stepped outside her hiding place, falling to the ground. Her sudden shriek startled Starscream, who turned around and saw the girl.

She got up quickly and cursed herself for her mistake. She ran but, with a couple of agile steps, the Air Commander reached her, grabbed her by the top of her jacket and lifted her up to his face.

"No!! Let me go!!" Carly shouted frightened.

Starscream smirked mischievously. "But what do we have here? Humans on this planet? You really are a disgusting pest, aren't you?"

Carly twisted and tried to kick his hand while Starscream looked at her the same way he would have looked at a primitive insect. He started to throw her to the air, catching her without any consideration to her weak human condition.

Carly panicked, aware that in any moment she would hit the floor and get killed. She felt the urgent need to cry, but she wouldn't give Starscream that pleasure.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_A/N: OK, first chapter. I hope you liked it. Reviews are very welcome and appreciated. In case you didn´t notice (which I doubt), English is not my first language, so I must have all kind of mistakes out there. But I did my best, with a little help of my friend the Dictionary. __Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's notes: F__irst of all A MILLION THANKS to all those wonderful people who reviewed and took the time to read my fic. I´m surprised for the number of hits and very very happy. All your warmth and support encourages me to go with this fanfic writing thing ;o) This is just my second fanfic and I plan to go on._

_So, here is chapter 2. I hope you will like it. I found it very amusing to write._

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Stop it! Put me down, you freak!" Carly cried as she was thrown to the air for about the tenth time.

Starscream's raspy laughter hurt her ears. "Or else? What do you plan to do to stop me, human?"

"I'm telling you to let me go! Now!"

Starscream kept on laughing but suddenly stopped his abusive game. After throwing her so high that Carly almost crashed into the roof, the Seeker caught her by a leg and looked at her face with curiosity.

"Wait… aren't you one of the Autobots' pets?" he asked.

Carly made a grimace. _Pet?_

"I'm not a p… OK, yes!! I was sent here with you due to that malfunction in the space bridge…"

Starscream stopped shaking her and his face got serious. "What did you just say?" he asked hoarsely.

"The missile that caused the explosion on the space bridge… I think it transported us to another planet."

"Brilliant, human, it amazes me how you reached such an obvious conclusion," he said with contempt. After a couple of seconds, he tossed the girl above his shoulder and she roughly landed on the top of a high rock.

"Ooouch!! You could've been a little bit careful, you fucking piece of junk!!" she angrily yelled to Starscream, who walked away from her.

After a moment of hesitation, Carly slid to the floor and followed him. She knew she didn't have many probabilities of staying alive if she remained there by herself. Starscream certainly should have some advanced system that would help him to find the cavern's exit. Although, Carly kept a safe distance from the Decepticon, in case he'd decide to play tricks with her again.

Several minutes later she saw what it seemed to be sun light coming from somewhere. Her hopes increased and she ran toward the source of the light. She sighed with relief when she saw the cavern enormous entrance. Starscream was nowhere to be seen.

But just before she reached the entrance, she had to jump brusquely to one side to avoid being crushed by the Air Commander himself, who suddenly collapsed into the cave half transformed. Right after he finished shifting to his standard mode, he fell to his knees.

"Now who kissed the floor? What's wrong? Mr. Ruthless Decepticon got scared out there?" Carly mocked.

"Silence or I'll crush you, you despicable humaaaaaargh!!" he cried as a strong electrical ray convulsed his body.

Carly stepped back scared. "But what happened to you?!"

Starscream narrowed his optics in pain and touched his injure, which remained over energized. "Plasma! This planet has a permanent plasma storm!"

The Decepticon looked worried at his injury, which seemed to have received the worst of the plasma attacks. Carly couldn´t help feeling sorry for him. He seemed to be in a lot of pain.

"I see… so your metallic body acted like a magnet."

"You are so brilliant, human! Thank you so much for enlighten me with your wisdom," he said with irony in his voice.

Carly frowned. "You certainly are a rude bastard!"

"And you're a very annoying bug! If you don't shut your mouth hole I will tear your limbs apart one by one, do you understand?" he threatened her, shaking his fist.

"Fine! That's what I get for worrying about you!"

"I don't need your pity, human!"

Carly narrowed her eyes. "Stop calling me human. My name is Carly."

"I couldn't care less about your name, _human,_" Starscream retorted with contempt. He managed to sit on the floor and started to try to repair some wiring exposed from his injury.

Carly shook her head and carefully advanced toward the entrance of the cave. She was startled by the sight. The colorful view outside the cave was quite beautiful, full of big and leafy trees. Behind them, there was a huge water fall. The sky was grey blue, and it was shocked every now and then by plasma beams.

A raspy groan behind her made the teenager turn around. Starscream was still trying to fix his exposed circuitry, but it was obvious he was having a hard time because most of the injury was on his back, a zone that was hard for him to reach because of his wings.

"I can help you with that, if you want," she said.

"Save it, human. I don't need your help," was the rude reply.

Carly shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever… I'm not the one who has an entire side of my body injured like that."

Starscream looked at her with despite but didn't say anything, very busy trying to put some order in his left panel.

Carly sat on the floor, always keeping her distance, and watched him for several minutes. Suddenly, another groan of pain coming from the Decepticon Air Commander made her roll her eyes and approach him. From one pocket of her jacket, she took a little mirror that she used for making up. She raised it until it reflected Starscream's eyes.

"It's too small for you, but at least it will give you a better sight of whatever you are doing."

Starscream looked at her completely astonished. However, he quickly returned to his bad mood face.

"Lift it up… more… now 32 degrees to the right… no, not that much… there," he muttered hoarsely as he continued to repair himself, this time with much more easiness.

Several minutes went by until finally Starscream finished fixing the more severe damage and minimized the pain to a very tolerable level.

After closing the hatch of his left panel, he walked toward a darker part of the cave.

"You are welcome," Carly muttered and returned the mirror to her pocket.

Outside, night had fallen. Only the plasma storm lightened the black sky.

Carly walked to the entrance of the cave and sat, letting her legs hang on the edge. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Starscream approaching. He leaned on a huge rock attached to the wall and folded his arms across his chest.

"Any idea of where we are?" the girl asked.

The Seeker glanced outside. "Negative. There are thousands of planets that share this same atmospheric conditions. We could be anywhere."

"I thought that the spice bridge was programmed only to teleport from Earth to Cybertron and the opposite."

"That's the way it was. The malfunction must have changed the main coordinates."

The nighttime landscape before their eyes was very beautiful, but suddenly seemed to Carly as a desolated panorama. She stood up and got away from the cave's entrance. She sat down on the floor, leaning against a rock, embracing her legs and hiding her face within her knees. The cold had increased with the arrival of the night, and her little jacket barely gave her some warmth.

Starscream looked at her in silence. Perhaps it was a good idea to enter recharge mode. He had used a lot of energy fighting the Autobots and he would need all his available strength to survive. He sat down also, far away from the human female, and he put all his systems to self inflicted stasis.

* * *

From somewhere outside her head came a metallic sound and Carly woke up all of a sudden. The first thing she felt when she moved her head was an uncomfortable pain in the neck. She stretched out with plenty of discomfort. Her body was half numb and a cramp in her right calf made her clench her teeth. That was, by far, the worst night of her young life.

Starscream was sitting some meters away, turning his back to her. Now he was working on a device on his shoulder. Certainly his commlink, Carly thought, remembering how she had seen the Decepticon trying to contact his headquarters the day before.

A sudden pain in her stomach made her chill. Trying not to make any noise, she got up and headed to the inside of the cave.

"Attempting to escape, human?" she heard Starscream's voice, who continued working on his commlink without looking at her.

"Of course not! I have… personal businesses to take care of," she said blushing.

Starscream knew exactly what the human was talking about. He had spent long hours studying human culture and anatomy, and he knew what was there to know about their physiological functions. He was about to say something offensive about a certain disgusting particular function, but for some reason he didn't.

* * *

Carly walked away fast, this time without caring about the noise of her steps.

She found a spot very far away from the entrance of the cave that seemed to provide enough privacy. After she finished her thing she heard a slight dropping from somewhere behind her, a different sound from the one that the white fluorescent liquid was making falling on the puddles.

She followed the source of the noise and found a big hole hided within two big rocks in a very dark zone of the cave. She got in, and for the first time since her arrival to that planet, Carly smiled.

In front of her eyes there was a little and crystalline subterranean river. The little puddles of white fluorescent liquid that were all around illuminated the place in a very placid manner, almost turning it into a little paradise.

Carly got close to the border of the river and touched the water. It was cold but nice, and she thought she could use a bath.

The girl looked over her shoulder; she didn't see or hear anything at all. Surely Starscream was still working on his commlink, so she undressed and got into the water.

The first sensation of discomfort was surpassed soon by the work of temperature regulation that her body made, and soon she found herself enjoying her improvised cold spa.

The river was not deeper than a child's pool, but she started to swim and splash in circles, laughing and enjoying herself. She was so relaxed playing in the water that she jumped terrorized when she heard a familiar raspy and screechy voice behind her.

"Are you having fun, human?"

Carly froze, and not because of the water temperature. She felt her heart beating like a maniac and her face turned as red as a tomato. She looked over her shoulder and saw Starscream, leaning on a wall, his arms folded across his chest and his mouth smirking evilly.

The young female yelled and tried to cover her naked body with her arms, something she could barely do due to the low depth of the pond.

"Starscream! W-wh-what are you doing here?!"

"I need that little reflecting device of yours," he answered looking at Carly with an amused grin on his face.

"How long… how long have you been there?"

"Oh, I just arrived. Please don't worry and go on with whatever you were doing."

Carly clinched her fists, detecting the irony in his voice. "Get out! Leave! Can't I have a little bit of privacy?!" she angrily shouted.

Starscream shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. Although you should know your pathetic squishy body it's very amusing to me. Hurry up and give me that device!" he ordered.

"I'll give you the damn mirror in a minute, but get the fuck out of here!"

Starscream cackled and left. After making sure his steps could not be heard anymore, Carly got out from the water and ran to her clothes. She closed her eyes in complete humiliation.

* * *

Starscream checked for the twelfth time behind his shoulder. The human was delaying too much. Could she possibly be so upset because of him spying on her?

The Seeker made a contempt grimace. Indeed those human creatures were too pathetic, worth of the extinction they were condemning themselves to. They were so worried about such insignificant things like modesty, a feeling that culturally should be at the bottom of the emotions. For a moment he regretted having spied on the Autobot's pet, but he admitted it had been quite amusing to see her deprived of her clothes playing around in the water.

He was about to return to look for her, this time with a much less tolerant attitude, when the sound of steps made him stop.

Carly found Starscream at the same position he was when she had found him spying her at the subterranean river: standing, leaning against a wall and with his arms folded. The Decepticon glanced at her with the same ironical expression of a while back. Carly, still blushing, bit her lips and handed the mirror to him.

Starscream kneeled and turned around. "Here, climb that rock and show me this spot behind my shoulder," he said pointing to a little open console.

She did what he told her without saying a word, feeling quite uncomfortable.

Starscream worked for several minutes. She didn't put the mirror back to her pocket until she saw him closing the console.

"I suppose you have some knowledge of the communication frequencies the Autobots use between themselves."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes. Why? Are you planning to ask them for help?"

Starscream's expression got angry. "I don't need the help of those filthy Autobots, do you understand human? I'm going to broadcast a distress signal to all the frequencies that we Decepticons use, but it would be useful to use enemy frequencies as well."

Carly frowned. Her own survival depended on that, so she agreed and gave Starscream all the frequencies she knew. The Air Commander walked to the entrance of the cave and began to radio some strange codes in a very rare language.

Carly looked at him uneasily. It was so ironic that her life depended now on that Decepticon maniac, the one his Autobot friends hated the most, and she could understand why. In the past, she never had any personal contact with him. She had seen him sometimes on the screen of Teletran 1, during combats with the Autobots, always fast, lethal, wicked, treacherous and quick to retreat at the first defeat signal. She had listened to many stories of how Starscream had attempted to overthrow Megatron in multiple occasions, attempting to become the Supreme Commander of the Decepticon Army himself. She had also heard that he was a liar, a villain without any ethics and a murderer with an incomparable ambition. Cliffjumper used to say that Starscream could only feel hatred and revenge, and that the only being he cared for was himself. Definitively, he was the worst companion that she could have now.

Or wasn't he, really? Starscream could have killed her at any time, but almost twenty four hours had passed and she was still alive. He continued to treat her with contempt but she suspected that was more because of his natural derogatory character than from the fact that he actually disliked her. The episode of the river was still very shameful, but she had to admit that Starscream had not taken advantage of the situation, although she doubted a Transformer could be interested in abusing of a nude organic creature.

A grunt very close to her made her turn to one of her sides. From the entrance of the cave, less than ten yards from her, a hideous animal the size of a grizzly bear was showing his teeth.

She retreated in panic. The creature was a freaky sight indeed, with large and sharp teeth and equally sharp paws that advanced slowly leaving marks on the floor.

Carly screamed and tightened against the wall. The animal approached her grunting and with a killer glance in the eyes. The girl turned toward Starscream with a suppliant look, but the Seeker remained in his place, laughing at the sight before him.

Carly felt her anger rising, even more than her fear. For a moment she forgot about the danger and thought the Air Commander was indeed a despicable being, the worst of all Decepticons. All rumors were true, and more. She wished so much to be able to hurt him, to silence that maniacal laugh of his.

The animal's imminent attack sent her back to her frightening reality. After arching on his paws for some seconds, the beast attacked Carly, his canine teeth ready to shatter flesh.

The girl closed her eyes and protected her face with her hands. She could hear the beast's jaws closing just a few centimeters from her face. She dared to open her eyes and she saw Starscream's tall and slender figure right in front of her. He was holding the animal with his hand, completely indifferent to the beast´s furious onslaughts to get free. After contemplating the organic creature for some seconds, Starscream walked to the cave's entrance and tossed it outside without any effort.

But Carly was very far away from feeling gratitude.

"Why do you always have to be so unkind?! You could have helped me without making fun of me like if I were some kind of circus spectacle!"

Starscream smirked. "You exaggerate, human. Besides, when did the fact that I was obliged to assist _you_ became established? You must know that the one and only reason why I haven't crushed you like the little runt you are is because you're my hostage in case I have some problem with the Autobots when I return."

Carly clinched her fists until she felt pain. Her anger was increasing and she could feel it pressuring against her throat. So that's the way it was. But of course. Now everything was crystal clear. She had been such a fool to think that somehow she and Starscream were getting close to some kind of cooperative relationship.

"You… you bastard… you disgusting son of a bitch! I hate you!! One of these days Optimus Prime will shatter you to pieces and I will dance all over your remains!"

The malice in her voice surprised Starscream, and he smirked in return. "In your dreams, human."

"STOP CALLING ME HUMAN!!"

"Then how should I call you? Insect, earthling, flesh bag, worm…?

"I definitely know how to address you, loser, failure, Megatron's pet!"

Starscream's mischievous smile erased immediately. His face acquired a terrible and threatening expression. He advanced dangerously toward Carly, his red optics shining with insanity.

Carly chilled but she wouldn't take back her words. She finally had reached a weak point in him and was at least keep that pleasure to herself, despite what could happen.

"That's it, kill me! Come on, crush me, stop barking about how easily you could step on me and just do it! You are a coward Starscream, you have always been! You could never be leader of the Decepticons! A looser like you could never…"

Starscream raised his right arm with a growl of fury and punched the wall brutally, just some meters above Carly´s head, causing a landslide. She shivered and retreated quickly from the falling debris caused by the punch and by the stirring of Starscream's fist, which remained inside the hole he just caused.

Carly had no doubt that the Decepticon would kill her this time, but pleading for mercy wasn't her style.

Starscream face was expressionless. Slowly, he took his fist out of the hole on the wall and walked to the entrance of the cave. Once he arrived, he transformed to his F-15 mode and took off, challenging the plasma storm that welcomed him with bare aggression.

Carly fall to her knees, breathing deeply.

* * *

Long minutes went by. In the solitude of the cave, Carly regretted the way she had talked to Starscream. He had saved her life, after all, and she had to know his irony and cruelty were part of his personality. He had done it his own way, but he saved her from a certain and horrible death indeed. Carly felt like the worm Starscream certainly thought she was.

Outside, the sunset was dying and the night was taking over. As the day before, the darkness was only lightened by the plasma storm that burst randomly with increasing fury. Carly was beginning to lose all hope to see Starscream again, when a very fast figure flying through the sky indicated the opposite.

Just before he landed, he received a very hard plasma beam on his canopy that almost took him down, but he managed to arrive to the cave and transformed to his standard mode. He fell to his knees and dragged himself for some more yards before collapsing brutally to the floor.

"Starscream!" he still could listen before his optics and his audio sensors went off line.

_To be continued._

* * *

_A/N: Please leave your reviews and tell me what you think. I will upload chapter 3 during the weekend. I already have it written but I still need to translate it, and that always take me some hours to do. _

_Cheers to all and thanks for reading :o)_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's__ notes: I want to thank all those great people who reviewed and to those who are following my story. Really, thanks so much! You are the best! Also, thanks to those who have contacted me through private messages. I have met really cool people in this site. There is something special about the people who read or write fanfiction, have you noticed? Well, I hope you'll enjoy what's coming next. Please review :o)_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Heat. Lots of heat. A fire that was burning inside of him, possessing him, shaking every one of his circuits. His limbs were numb; all he could feel was pain, the unbearable pain of his neural circuits getting burned, his temperature processors overheating. Somewhere inside his dark unconsciousness, he knew it was happening, the slow process that would take him to total deactivation.

But then he felt something else, something opposite of pain. It was a contact, a touch, fresh and warm at the same time. He felt something dampish on his forehead and cold drops were dripping through his face. And there was also a hand, a tiny non metallic hand touching him, and from somewhere very far away he could hear that female delicate voice saying his name. The dampish sensation went on, so as the cold drops. Then the pain stopped.

* * *

Starscream opened his optics. The first thing he saw was the roof of the cave full of stalactites, some dripping white fluorescent liquid. Outside the cave, night had fallen. He slightly moved and from his forehead slipped Carly's jacket, soaked and cold.

Beside him, sitting in the ground and leaning on his shoulder, Carly was chewing slowly a couple of little colorful spheres that she was extracting of a small plastic bag. She was embracing herself, trembling because of the cold.

Everything was clear now. How many times had she soaked her jacket in the subterranean river and put it in his forehead? Starscream couldn't have known. And there she was, freezing. Could she know she had saved his life? The Seeker frowned.

Carly suddenly turned her face to his, feeling some movement from his body. She smiled when she saw him conscious. Starscream felt deeply embarrassed.

"What happened?" he asked weakly, feeling like a complete idiot. Not that he didn't know.

"You fainted. I think you received too many impacts of that plasma storm... You were burning, literally, specially your head. I did what I could in order to reduce your temperature. It looks that it helped somehow."

Starscream handed the jacket to her and managed to get up, still weakened. "I had to do it… to find the topmost point of this planet to send another distress signal."

"And could you?"

"Yes, at the top of a mountain, although I was an easy target for the plasma beams."

"That was madness… suicidal… You could have died out there."

"I know, but it was the only way. Not bad for a coward, I guess."

Carly looked down ashamed. "I didn't mean to…"

"Save it, human. You are not the first one who calls me coward and neither will you be the last. I'm used to, actually."

Carly wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. She was suddenly surprised by the unmistakable sound of transformation. Starscream had transformed to his F-15 mode. His cockpit opened.

"Get in, before I repent."

She looked at him startled. Was he… was he actually being _kind_ with her?

"What are you waiting for, human? Your weak squishy body won't stand this weather conditions for so long."

She smiled and quickly jumped inside his cockpit. The hatchway closed above her head.

Starscream's cockpit was actually quite comfortable and warm. His main console was full of complicated systems that she couldn't understand, very different from any terrestrial aircraft. She smiled to herself, wondering what would Spike and her Autobot friends said if they knew she was _inside_ their deadliest enemy.

Carly leaned comfortably on Starscream's pilot seat and closed her eyes.

"Good night, Starscream."

The Decepticon Air Commander didn't reply. It was one of those very rare times in which he was speechless.

* * *

The morning arrived and the warm sun beams that began to enter through the cave's entrance illuminated Starscream's right wing, producing a pleasant sensation of warmth through all his body, sensation that he ignored, immersed completely in the thoughts that had been running through his mind all night and barely left him recharge.

Just what the slag was he thinking when he allowed the flesh creature to spend the night _inside_ of him? His cockpit was one of his more vulnerable zones, not to mention private. But what was really bothering him was the fact that he had been _kind_ with her. He, who had never, ever, had a gentle attitude toward anybody. He just couldn't recognize himself. All his life he cared for himself and himself only. He was his world, his top priority, his entire universe. He was meant to greatness, to become supreme leader of the Decepticons and to guide them to victory; his superiority was a fact, he never doubted that. He was very aware of his egocentric personality, and he was damn proud of it.

Then, how could he explain this sudden failure in his behavior? Keeping the human alive and caring for her comfort… well, this just _wasn't_ him. The reasons of his recent actions remained in a dark zone within his mind, somewhere he didn't want to take a closer look. Was he grateful with her, perhaps? Was it the humiliating feeling of being saved by a midget, weak and squishy human being? Or perhaps… he hated to admit it, but he happened to like her stubborn character, somehow similar to his own.

If Starscream would have been transformed in his standard mode, he would have shaken his head. There were too many unanswered questions and he was afraid to explore them more deeply and find answers that could disturb him, explanations that could alter his individualist way of life. He tried to focus on his own survival and his ambitions, but it was very difficult with the sight that he had inside of him.

Carly was sleeping placidly on Starscream's pilot seat. Her quiet face revealed the comfort of her dreams. There was a total absence of malice in that face, and Starscream found that very unusual, used as he was to the carnage of war. He wondered again why she had helped him the day before. It had to be because he was her only chance to survive in that planet, there could not be another reason. She was an Autobot's pet, after all, and he knew no human could feel nothing else but hate and fear for a Decepticon, especially a fleshling allied with the Autobots.

He thought he should have killed her when he first found her. Now it would be difficult, very difficult. He felt disappointed of his sudden softness and at the same time he felt some weird and pleasant sensation circling around his spark.

Carly moved and opened her eyes, stopping Starscream's disturbing thoughts. He saw her looking around astonished, as if she couldn't remember where she was.

"You woke up, finally," he hoarsely said.

She yawned and smiled. "Yes… I had a very comfortable night thanks to you. Good morning, Starscream".

He didn't reply and opened his hatchway. Carly jumped out and he transformed to his standard mode, stretching his limbs.

This time, when she went away discreetly to the inside of the cave, he did not make any harsh comment and much less intended to follow her. The one and only obvious conclusion he could arrive was that the human had earned his respect.

* * *

Carly took a very quick bath in the subterranean river, and not because she feared being spied again. Somehow she knew Starscream wouldn't invade her privacy for a second time. But time was running out and it was urgent to find a way to return to Earth with Starscream.

Starscream… Her body chilled. In very few hours she had seen an unknown side in the personality of the Decepticon Air Commander and now it was impossible for her to see him with her former prejudices.

The Autobots always said the worst things about him, and she never doubted they were true. They knew him better, for sure, and the actions of the Seeker spoken for themselves. But it seemed to be more than the eye could meet. Carly never imagined that Starscream could have such a nice, interesting and… attractive side.

She blushed. What the hell was she thinking about? It was alright to form a temporary alliance with an enemy during an emergency situation, but it was something very different to actually… like him.

But she couldn´t help it. Starscream was an annoying bastard for sure, but a very cute one. She blushed violently again and finished her bath quickly, grateful for the coldness of the water.

* * *

As she was returning to the cave's entrance she tried to shake those thoughts off. The priority now was survival, as an intense stomachache reminded her how hungry she was. The day before she had eaten some candies she found in her jacket's internal pocket, but that hardly could be considered a real meal. She needed to eat something urgently or her body would begin to weaken.

She found an amazing answer to her worries as soon as she arrived to the cave's entrance, where she was greeted by the tempting sight of half dozen of red fruits very similar to apples that were placed carefully on a flat large rock. She ran to them and looked at Starscream, who was leaning on a wall, his back towards her, his arms folded across his chest. He was looking at something outside the cavern.

"Food! But how…? Starscream, thank you so much!"

"Stop babbling and eat those organic fruits. I analyzed their components and they are not dangerous for organic beings," he said with a neutral voice.

"I wasn't aware that you possessed knowledge about issues related to organic beings."

"Conquest is impossible without knowledge".

Carly smiled. She was beginning to like his arrogant personality indeed. She bit one of the fruits and a pleasant and sweet taste invaded her mouth.

"This is really delicious. But what about you? You must be hungry too."

"I won't starve for some days without refueling."

"Thanks again Starscream. It must have been very dangerous for you to go out and bring me this food."

Starscream glanced at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Not really, I'm becoming an expert avoiding those plasma beams. Besides, don't flatter yourself, human. I didn't go out because of you. I needed to take a closer look at the location of a possible dimensional door that I found yesterday when I was exploring."

"A dimensional door? You mean like a space bridge portal?"

"Something like that, yes, but a natural one. I knew that there had to be something like that in this planet. Otherwise we would have never ended here at all."

"And can it be activated?"

"Not by itself. The only chance is that someone would activate it from the space bridge portal in Earth, or in Cybertron for the matter. I've been sending distress signals to both Decepticon and Autobots frequencies but I doubt they are receiving them. Without a proper catalyst to unleash the power of the dimensional door, there is no way to access the inner subspace that could take us back to Earth."

"A catalyst, huh? Maybe we have one."

Starscream looked at her and frowned. "What do you mean?"

Carly took the white diamond from her jacket and showed it to him.

The Decepticon startled. "But what the… why do you have that?!"

"I picked it up from the space bridge right before the malfunction."

Starscream kneeled right in front of her. "But this is the core zirconium! This is what allows traveling through subspace!"

"Well, then… it's the catalyst you needed."

Starscream rubbed his chin, his scientist mind examining hundreds of data and possibilities. Definitely there was a big chance… "If my calculations are correct we will be out of this muddy planet in a matter of hours. Let's go, get in!" he said, transforming into his F-15 mode and opening his hatchway.

Carly didn't hesitate and jumped inside his cockpit. Two safety belts emerged and closed by themselves around her body.

"But where are we going, Starscream? The plasma storm…"

"I can avoid it. Hold on and don't lose that zirconium!" she heard the Decepticon's voice through all the cockpit.

_To be continued…_

* * *

_A/N: Mmmh… Sleeping inside Starscream´s cockpit has been one of my fantasies since my childhood, so I had to write it somewhere. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will update the final chapter during the week, depending of my schedules and social life. Please let me know your opinions :o)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Carly was fascinated. Starscream was flying at high speed and was maneuvering dangerously to avoid the plasma beams. Carly knew the Seeker was the Air Commander of the Decepticons and the second in command of the entire army, and now she could see why. He was an excellent pilot indeed; the infamous stories the Autobots used to tell about his lethal abilities had to be true.

Some minutes after they arrived to a big waterfall.

"Prepare to be ejected, human. I will have to make a forced landing to avoid the plasma bolts."

"Ejected?"

"Just don't panic and trust me."

Before she could realize what was happening, Starscream transformed to his standard mode. Suddenly, Carly was falling to a certain death, but just some seconds after, Starscream's hand caught her by her jacket and dragged her behind the waterfall.

The Decepticon landed on the edge of a little lake behind the waterfall and put Carly beside him.

"Don't you dare to touch the water under any circumstances," he said, while a plasma bolt stroke outside the waterfall, following Starscream's magnetic trail.

Carly fell to her knees breathing agitatedly. "That was thrilling!"

Starscream walked towards the wall and pointed ahead. "There is a big amount of electromagnetic radiation in that zone. With the core zirconium and an electric shock of 5 billion volts, it will be possible to create a dimensional door which will take us back to Earth."

Carly walked toward that zone. It felt very rare indeed, soundless, empty somehow, she couldn't explain.

"Wait a minute… did you say 5 billion volts? But how are you planning to generate such an amount of energy?"

Starscream smirked. "We have the best source of energy out there."

"The plasma storm! But the beams won't enter this place. How do you plan to attract them?"

"Easy. I will use my body as bait."

Carly was shocked. "But… but that's suicidal! You will be destroyed!"

"Not if I can activate the dimensional door before."

Carly was speechless, astonished by his courage. Was this the infamous coward that was the sworn enemy of the Autobots?

"We'll have to wait till nightfall, though. The plasma storm will be stronger then," he continued.

Starscream sat on the floor and rested one arm on his knee. Carly did the same.

Some minutes of uncomfortable silence passed, which Carly suddenly broke.

"Starscream, why are you a Decepticon?" Her voice sounded sad.

Starscream turned to look at her, taken by surprise.

"What?"

Carly didn't dare to look into his eyes. "Why are you a Decepticon? Do you really believe in that cause…?"

Starscream smirked with malice and rested his chin on his fist. "You ask very useless questions, human."

She didn't give up. "But is it so important to you… conquest, destruction…?"

"Power is my priority".

"But don't you have any respect for life, for freedom?"

"Freedom! You don't get freedom with soft and useless words. If you want freedom you have to fight for it and destroy those who stand in your way."

"But you can get killed."

Starscream roared with laughter. "This is a war! Everybody can die. I have survived too long to worry for petty details like that."

Carly frowned. "I think war is the biggest nonsense in the universe."

"War is logical; it's about the quest for power and the establishment of ideologies and ways of life."

"But why? Why is it always about domination?

"Survival of the fittest."

"Just like that, huh?"

Starscream nodded. "Order must be imposed."

"And you Decepticons are going to impose that order? How? Destroying the Earth?"

"And who said we are going to destroy it? No doubt you are an Autobot's pet indeed."

Carly frowned and clinched her fists. "At least the Autobots are not trying to enslave us! They are the good guys…"

Starscream laughed. "The good guys! You are so naïve, human. Life is not white and black as you seem to believe in your little mind. But I don't blame you. You belong to an inferior race after all, and it must be easy for you to buy Optimus Prime's cheap and pacifist propaganda."

"Propaganda?? Since you arrived to Earth, you and your fellow Decepticons have done nothing but stole our energy resources, no matter how many humans died in the process! The Autobots protect us!"

Starscream's smile erased and his face got serious. He raised his arm and for a moment Carly thought she had talked too much. But the Air Commander didn't show signals of wanting to use violence with her. With a very weird serenity for his nature, he opened a panel on his forearm, right below his null ray, and showed it to the girl. Inside the open panel, engraved deeply on his internal skeleton, was a twelve Cybertronian characters code.

"What is that?" Carly asked.

Starscream frowned. "Millions of years ago, I was a scientist who dared to have an alternative way of thinking. _This_ is the way the Autobots made sure I wouldn't forget my place in the established order."

Carly was shocked. "The Autobots did this to you?

Starscream dimmed his optics. "Yes… after beating the slag out of me, permanently damaging my vocalizer in the process... They marked me as you humans do with your cattle. They marked me as an inferior, as an object…"

"But… but that's so horrible, so unfair… The Autobots could have never done something like that…"

Starscream closed the panel. "I don't pretend to ruin your perfect opinion of the Autobots. I know you wouldn't believe me, but you should not blind yourself thinking that the universe is only divided in good and evil."

Carly embraced her knees and for several seconds looked thoughtful.

Finally, she raised her head and looked at him. "You might have a point, but I still believe Decepticons have no right to bring a foreign war to my planet," she firmly stated.

"The survival and expansion of my species overcomes any ethics for the matter," he replied.

Carly considered his words. She couldn't accept the danger her world was in because of the Decepticons, but she had to admit they had their reasons as well.

"You know, Starscream…" she quietly said.

The Seeker looked at her suspiciously. "What?"

"No matter what you say, I think deep inside you are a very decent Decepticon, at least that's what you've showed me these past two days."

Starscream laughed. "_Decent?_ Me? You are such a weird human indeed."

* * *

The night arrived. The storm outside the waterfall had gotten stronger, and the plasma bolts were impacting very near.

Starscream and Carly were sitting on the ground, very close to each other. He was silent and his face was strangely pacific. Carly had her eyes half closed and was desirous to come back to Earth, but at the same time she was feeling sad.

Starscream got up suddenly. "It's time", he said hoarsely.

Carly nodded and took the core zirconium out of her jacket. He kneeled above her and for a moment their fingers touched. Both felt the same weird but pleasant sensation. Carly brushed and Starscream tried to focus his attention on the zirconium.

Finally, Starscream stood up and placed the diamond in the zone of the electromagnetic radiation.

"Walk to that wall and don't move, no matter what happens," he said.

She obeyed, her excited heart beating painfully.

"Starscream, you…"

But before she could finish, Starscream transformed to his alt mode and blasted off through the water curtain.

Carly tightened her hands and she found herself doing something that she hadn't done since her childhood. "God, please protect him…"

* * *

Minutes passed, long and distressful. The impact of the plasma bolts was very close.

Suddenly, Starscream returned, breaking through the waterfall, his body completely electrified. He transformed to his standard mode and fell on his knees, half of his body submerged in water. He received a couple of strikes before he tried to reach the zirconium with his weakened arm.

Carly was horrified. "Starscream, get out of the water!! You're going to get killed!!"

He seemed not to listen to her. While his body was shaken up mercilessly by billions of volts, he tried to touch the zirconium that was just a few meters away. Making an indescribable effort, the Seeker finally managed to reach it. A big explosion of light occurred and Starscream collapsed screaming in pain.

The plan was successful. A black hole opened tightly on top of the white zircon.

But Carly ignored it. She ran towards the edge, where Starscream, with his legs submerged in water, kept on receiving plasma rays.

Within his agony, the Decepticon saw the girl running towards him.

"W…what are you waiting for?? Leave, human!! Go!!" he cried.

"I'm not going anywhere without you!"

"Don't be a fool!! The black hole will close in seconds! Leave!! I wouldn't hesitate to abandon you!" he managed to shout, his face deformed by pain.

"I won't leave you, Starscream! You have to get up, please get up!"

Starscream made a big effort to raise his head and looked at her.

"Carly…"

She opened her mouth astonished. It was the first time he called her by her name.

"Carly…" he repeated, "Just… just go… save yourself…"

Her eyes got damp and, for the first time since his arrival to Earth, Starscream witnessed tears falling from human's eyes.

But despite of her crying, Carly's voice sounded loud and firm.

"I'm _not_ going to leave you!"

The following seconds were too confusing. Starscream only remembered those blue eyes full of affection crying for him. _For him._

He didn't know how his weakened body found the strength to get up. He managed to drag himself to the black hole, which was beginning to close. The last thing Carly felt before the subspace swallowed them was Starscream's arms embracing her, protecting her…

* * *

The landing was much more benign than they had expected. They fell in the middle of the space bridge, which still showed signs of the recent battle between Autobots and Decepticons.

Carly opened her eyes. She tried to move but she couldn't. Starscream's arms still had her embraced against his chest.

"Starscream, are you…?"

"Functional," he replied weakly.

"We made it! We are back on Earth!"

Starscream said nothing. He was very surprised to open his optics and see the human within his arms. He placed her hurriedly on the ground and stood up laboriously.

"I assume that you are not hurt," he said with his most indifferent voice.

"I'm perfectly fine. But what about you?"

Starscream staggered and leaned an arm on the wall of the space bridge.

"I'll survive."

Carly looked at the Seeker with sadness.

"So… I guess this is it, right?"

He nodded.

"Starscream, thank you… for saving my life and…"

"Save it human, and don't fool yourself! As I told you, you were my hostage."

"Right. All you did for me was because of that."

"Exactly."

Carly smiled, she knew better of course. "Even so, I'm very grateful."

He avoided to look at her and focused his attention on something ahead of them.

"We're not alone."

"What?"

"I detect energy signals coming to us fifty miles from here. Autobots."

"Are they coming here? Do you think they detected the activity on the space bridge?"

"Certainly, if they continued in this area, as it seems," said Starscream as he prepared to fly away. Fortunately one of his engines had resisted the plasma storm and he would make it to the Nemesis base.

Carly got a lump in her throat. The farewell was imminent. She wished to tell Starscream so many things, but she just couldn't find the words.

He turned his back to her. "Stay out of trouble, human."

"Starscream…"

He stopped, right before transforming.

"I was right," Carly continued, her eyes humid.

"About what?"

"You're a very decent Decepticon indeed."

Starscream smiled to himself and transformed. He gained altitude and got lost rapidly in the sky. He didn't dare to look back, he just couldn't.

Carly sat on the sand and embraced her knees. She remained looking at the sky for several minutes, even when the clouds of dust that the Autobots' arrival produced covered her.

_I was not your woman, I was not your friend._

_But you gave me something to remember._

_We weren´t meant to be, at least not in this lifetime_

_But you gave me something to remember._

_I hear you still say love yourself._

_(Madonna, "Something to remember")_

THE END

* * *

_A/N: Well, now you know. This fic came to my mind after one rainy afternoon in which I was listening to __a certain Madonna's song. If it has relation with the story you can tell me, but in my mind it did a lot. Sorry if I took many liberties with Starscream's personality, but I have always thought he has a decent side, as he showed in a couple of moments in the G1 cartoon (not to mention his ultimate sacrifice in Armada). Thanks to all who read and to all who reviewed, please keep doing so. Till next time :o)_


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